The Last Words She Deserved
by KingN7
Summary: Tali's father, Rael'Zorah, attempts to say his last words to her before his last breath takes his life away. If there is anyone on the Normandy who deserves to be at peace with their daddy issues, it's Tali. Short one-shot written to get me back into writing fanfiction! Any reviews/follows/favs/etc. are greatly appreciated!


Well hello everyone, your old pal KingN7 is back and ready to write! :D Now I know it's been a long time since I was last here, trust me I know, but real life can get in the way sometimes ya know? I don't really have an excuse beyond that, just don't hate me! :) Just celebrate because I'm back, and I'm ready to start writing again! Whoo! I've decided the best way for me to return is to write a one-shot 'fixing' a scene in the ME universe that I have a concern with, like I've done in the past. Now, in my humble opinion fathers are viewed far too negatively in the ME universe, as far too many characters have father issues, Tali included. Now I'm not saying fathers are perfect or that Bioware made terrible decisions when it came to different kinds of fathers for the different characters, and by no means am I changing Rael'Zorah as, despite his imperfection he raised a wonderful daughter that we all love, Tali, but I do believe, if anything, Tali deserves some form of closure with her father, and this is my way of doing it.

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The Last Words She Deserved

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"Tali, if you are listening to this, then I am dead. The Geth have gone active. I don't have much time. Their main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data. They must-" Rael'Zorah was interrupted as the seal on the door was broken.

He staggered back, attempting to find a place to hide from the Geth, but there was only a side room next to him and the stairway behind him, so he didn't have any options. He stared directly at the Geth as they began opening fire.

It hit him, the searing hot plasma instantly melted through his suit and hit his chest. He immediately fell to the ground, and felt the light of life inside of him begin to dim...

_BOOM_

Rael'Zorah remained lying on the ground as a small team of Quarians attempted to attack the Geth from behind.

As he lay in the small pool of his own blood, he began thinking of everything he had done in his life. All of his struggles, his triumphs... his failures. Everything came to him now, at his final moments, and the one thing he felt through all of his memories, was guilt: guilt that he could never give his daughter the homeworld he knew she deserved, just as he had never given his wife the homeworld she deserved. He couldn't leave yet, not without giving Tali what she deserved...

The Geth all turned away from Rael as they began to engage the Quarians, allowing him to weakly reach for his omnitool.

"Masking life-signs." The omnitool's VI displayed as Rael typed in his commands. "Medical stasis activating."

He knew he didn't have much time, and that his damaged suit couldn't keep his medical statis up forever, but he had to try to hold on as long as he could. He knew Tali would find him, and she would release him from his stasis, so if nothing else, he needed to say sorry to her before he joined the ancestors. He felt his eyes grow heavy as the stasis program activated and his organs began to function more slowly. The last thing Rael remembered before he lost consciousness was a tear falling from his eye...

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"FATHER!"

Rael felt a surge of extreme pain as his eyes shot open. He took a ragged breath and clutched the hole in his chest tightly as a female Quarian in a familiar suit began moving towards him quickly.

"Father!" Tali knelt down next to him, her hands shaking as she attempted to help him. "Shepard, get me some medigel now!"

Rael coughed and shook his head weakly. "It is too late for me, Tali... I've been bleeding out... for far too long..."

"No, no, no, no, we'll find a way to save you, father!" Tali continued shaking and began crying. "You can't leave me!"

Rael smiled and coughed again. "I'm... so... proud of you, Tali."

"Father..."

"You're so much like your mother... always thinking of others..." Rael chuckled feebly, "I see her in you... every time I look at you..."

"Thank you, father..." Tali sniffled.

"I know... I haven't been the perfect father... I know... I... shouldn't have been so hard on you..." Rael took another ragged breath. "But that... was just my way... of helping you reach... your full potential..."

"It's ok father, I know..." Tali sobbed.

"I... love you, Tali... and I... know... no matter what you do... I'll always be proud to call you... my daughter..." Rael exhaled weakly as his head began to slowly descend to the ground.

"I love you too, father..." Tali whispered as she continued to let the tears flow down her cheeks.

Rael's eyes began to close as he felt his life force leave him. He knew, no matter what happened to him now, he had finally told Tali what he had never been able to say before, and he felt... at peace with his memories now. His eyelids connected, and his last breath quietly flowed out of his lips.

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Author's Note: Hey everyone, it's KingN7 again! I hope you all liked this little story of mine, but keep in mind I mostly wrote this to ease myself back into writing. If you enjoyed it please feel free to follow, favorite, review, etc, and if you want to support me further go to my profile and follow the link to my page! If not, that's completely fine, I don't except a dime from ya, and I'll keep it that way, as I write for Tali not for money. Keelah Se'lai my wonderful readers! :D


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